GARETH SOUTHGATE built this era of consistent English success on ruthlessness.
Now can the England manager make the boldest selection call of all by benching his captain and all-time record goalscorer Harry Kane for Wednesday’s Euros semi-final against the Netherlands.
Because Kane needs a rest and England need a different option at centre-forward.
Kane is not fully fit and he hasn’t been all tournament. The captain and manager can keep denying it until they are blue in the face — but it is glaringly obvious.
Kane, 30, is nowhere near peak sharpness and it is affecting England’s performances.
Southgate started his reign by thinking the unthinkable and binning off his captain and all-time leading scorer Wayne Rooney.
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Could he now do the same, temporarily, with Kane?
It is doubtful, given Southgate’s stubborn refusal to make significant team changes during tournaments.
And a record of four quarter-finals in a row — including three semi-finals — suggests this policy has served him pretty damned well.
But whether it is the ongoing effects of a back problem suffered at the tail end of the domestic season, or simply burnout and exhaustion, Kane is lumbering and, as an attacking force, England are slumbering.
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Southgate may be loyal to a fault but even he admitted his skipper was not “flowing” after Saturday’s shootout triumph over Switzerland.
The Three Lions chief replaced a struggling Kane with Ivan Toney in extra-time.
England player ratings: Saka the saviour for Three Lions but subbed Kane stuggles in penalties thriller vs Switzerland
BUKAYO SAKA showed huge courage as he dug England out of a hole and through on penalties against Switzerland, writes Tom Barclay.
The Three Lions looked to be going out when Breel Embolo had put Swiss ahead on 75 minutes.
But Arsenal star Saka dragged England back into five minutes later with a stunning effort off the post.
To penalties it went – just like it did between these two sides five years ago in the Nations League.
And just like back then, Jordan Pickford made a save – repelling the Swiss’s first effort from Manuel Akanji.
England were perfect from then on, with Cole Palmer, Jude Bellignam, Saka, Ivan Toney and finally Trent Alexander-Arnold sending the Three Lions into the semi-final.
Here’s how the players rated…
Jordan Pickford: 7
Had his heart in his mouth when Xherdan Shaqiri’s corner deep into extra-time hit the post and bar, but then pulled off a smart stop to take it to penalties.
Saved Manuel Akanji’s first spot-kick by diving low to his left.
Kyle Walker: 6
Spent most of the game on the right side of a three which meant he could not get forward. Embolo got in front of him for Switzerland’s opener. Won the toss so the penalties were taken in front of the England fans.
John Stones: 6
Crisper passing in the first half, much better than his sloppy Slovakia display, but his deflection on Dan Ndoye’s cross diverted it to Embolo.
Ezri Konsa: 6
Was decent in the first half of his maiden start at a major tournament but, like the rest of the team, went into his shell after the break.
Kieran Trippier: 6
Had been expected to play right wing-back but was once again on the left.
Solid defensively but, as has been the case throughout the tournament, offered little going forward on his unnatural side.
Declan Rice: 7
Anticipated, and subsequently, won a number of 50-50s at the base of England’s midfield.
It was his decoy run that opened up the space for Saka to find the corner, before his 25-yard wonderstrike was denied by a flying Yann Sommer save in extra-time.
Kobbie Mainoo: 6
Some decent drives forward from midfield. Looked as if he would fire home an opener just before the break after
Bukayo Saka’s nice cutback, but was denied by Granit Xhaka’s excellent block.
Bukayo Saka: 8 and STAR MAN
Did not play at left wing-back as expected, but was England’s most dangerous attacking player throughout – and none more so when he came to the rescue with his 80th-minute leveller which flew in off the post.
Showed huge courage in the shoot-out as he stroked home his penalty beautifully, three years on from missing in the last Euros final.
Jude Bellingham: 6
Produced a few graceful dribbles which showcased his quality in the first half but pretty quiet.
Looked knackered but showed big cojones with his low penalty.
Phil Foden: 6
Admitted before the game that his central role would suit him better and it seemed to in the first 20 minutes, but faded after that.
Harry Kane: 4
This system just does not suit him. He needs runners, but does not look like he is going to get them.
Just could not get into the game and was subbed out of it in extra-time, seconds after he was sent crashing into his manager on the touchline.
SUBS
Cole Palmer (for Konsa, 78): 7
One of three players to come on in reaction to Switzerland’s opener – why did it take so long, Gareth? Dispatched England’s first spot-kick with aplomb.
Luke Shaw (for Trippier, 78): 6
First minutes of football since February, slotting in on the left side of back three as Southgate went for broke.
Eberechi Eze (for Mainoo, 78): 6
Carved out a nice bit of space for himself in the dying moments but fired wide.
Ivan Toney (For Kane, 109): 7
It was no surprise to see him come with the prospect of penalties on the horizon – what was more of a shock was that it was for spot-kick maestro Kane. Was knocked over in the box right at the end of extra-time, but nothing was given. Confident penalty.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (for Foden, 115): 7
Thrown on late into extra-time. Belted home his spot-kick to win it.
Gareth Southgate: 4
The adjusted back three system worked to a certain extent, but still the approach looked to be to keep it tight and rely on a moment of magic.
Saka provided that for the leveller, but given the talent at his disposal, it seemed very limited.
Took an age to make a change – prompted only by Switzerland going ahead. But got his subs right when it came to the penalty shoot-out.
And Southgate said: “I thought he [Kane] did a super job for the team in terms of defensively, his positioning, his understanding of where he needed to be.
“He’s perhaps not flowing as he’s arriving in those deeper areas — but he’s still playing an immense part for the group.”
Kane might be running on empty but everybody at these Euros is tired. Even the press box resembles some sort of zombie apocalypse.
Those following England can only recall fragments of a life before Southgate’s team started grinding out these results.
Few of Europe’s leading stars are peaking here and many are running on fumes. Yet even in this environment, Kane sticks out as being absolutely cream-crackered.
During Saturday’s game, England needed an outlet as the Swiss pinned them back before Breel Embolo’s opener but Kane didn’t have the legs to provide it.
He is not winning enough aerial duels, has been way off target with a couple of headed chances and against Switzerland his touch count was again worryingly low, just 26.
It is not just about bald stats. Strikers can be sharp and score goals with relatively little involvement but that is not the case with Kane at this tournament, despite two poacher’s strikes.
Kane has 65 goals in 96 international games and bagged 44 in an exceptional maiden Bayern Munich campaign.
Those records are extraordinary and it’s no wonder the idea of dropping him is such a sacred cow.
Ideally, Kane would be honest enough to admit he is struggling.
Yet all great goalscorers need egos — a selfish streak is part of the job spec.
And for a player who has, infamously, never won a trophy to offer himself up for a rest at the semi-final stage is almost unthinkable.
But England needn’t rely on Kane to such an extent that they have to play him when half-fit.
Just before his substitution against the Swiss, Kane was barged into the England dugout by Manuel Akanji and fell into Southgate’s arms, utterly shattered.
Even with penalties looming, Southgate knew his captain’s race was run.
Any England shootout win is still greeted with an element of disbelief in a nation haunted by defeats in such cruel circumstances.
But that England were perfect from the spot, without their regular penalty-taker, made victory all the more remarkable.
Southgate knows his history and made a point of telling his squad about 1966 and how England’s goalscoring talisman, Jimmy Greaves, was injured in the final group match and replaced by Geoff Hurst.
Fifty-eight years later, another legendary Tottenham goalscorer is struggling for fitness. Could Toney, or even Ollie Watkins, become the Hurst of 2024?
There will surely be no hat-trick in the final — England simply aren’t that sort of team.
But while Watkins had a far more impressive club season than Toney, it is the Brentford man’s supreme self-belief which singles him out as the player who should start against the Dutch.
The game against Holland will be different to any of England’s previous five at this tournament.
It will be the first time Southgate’s side will face a team who are not set up primarily to defend.
After Saturday’s win, Southgate was bombarded with questions from foreign journalists about England’s poor entertainment value.
How can a team with so much attacking talent be turned into a dull, plodding side relying on a dogs-of-war, never-say-die spirit to get through?
Perhaps it has much to do with Kane. When the focal point of the attack is not functioning, the likes of Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham suffer, too.
Kane was struggling for fitness at the start of the last Euros and was hauled off in a goalless group-stage draw with Scotland — as he was in the miserable 1-1 draw with Denmark this time.
Three years ago, Kane got into his stride and came good, scoring four times in the knockout stage as England reached the final.
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The hope was that something similar would happen here in Germany — but that hope is fading now.
It is time for Southgate to think the unthinkable again.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
